Bats, which are the reservoir of the Ebola virus, SARS and other diseases, have long interested scientists because of their exceptional immunity, thanks to which they live much longer than other mammals of a similar size.
Bats, by the way, live 20 to 40 years
By analyzing the DNA of two distant species of bats, experts from Singapore's Duke University found that both species lack a segment of the gene that triggers extreme and potentially fatal immune responses to infection, known as "cytokine storms."
Such an immune reaction often kills not only the enemy virus, but also the cells and tissue of the host.
It was also found that superior genes, which provide excellent immunity to bats, enable these animals to fly for a long time.
Professor Li-Fa Wang from that university emphasizes that viruses rarely kill the patient, but rather his immune response to the infection. If man could penetrate the immune mechanism of bat mice, he could develop drugs that would minimize the effect of inflammatory processes and overcome viral infections.
Bats, by the way, live 20 to 40 years, while rats on average survive only two to three.
Rapid tissue "repair"
It was also found that superior genes, which provide excellent immunity to bats, enable these animals to fly for a long time - the only one among over 5.000 species of mammals. Some species of bats can fly 1.000 kilometers in one night.
Such physical exertion causes the release of toxic "free radicals" that cause tissue damage. Here, in blind mice, the immune genes that enable tissue "repair" come into play.
Professor Wang points out that by learning from blind mice, man could find a solution not only for fighting infectious diseases, but also for slowing down aging and treating cancer.
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